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Safe Presumptions

1,500 x 1,500mm

How we are able to see the unseen

This is an academic piece of art, in that it is an artistic representation of the logical process of deduction.
It uses a partially visible YinYang to illustrate the elusive subject of “HOW” we discover the unknown.
How we humans apply reasoning to the seen so as to reveal the unseen.
How we embrace conclusions, built upon calculated presumptions;
Comparing what is presented, with what is already known, in order to discover the unknown.

The anatomy of the art
The bright and white area across the top third symbolises a person’s wisdom and knowledge already gained from past experiences.

The light running down the right-hand side, and partway down the left side, represents understandings obtained from parallel experiences – successful experiences on the right and unsuccessful experiences on the left.

Coming down into the grey areas is where we have to start forming presumptuous judgments.

The blue areas represent the need to be more careful when drawing any conclusions;
The dark blue areas reveal the need for caution, because there is even less information available.
And the blacker areas represent that which cannot be seen at all.

Yin is darker, and Yang is lighter.
Yang is made up from bright glimmers and white areas of what is known;
While the darkest shapes of Yin represent the totally unknown;
And the areas where the dark blue background comes through the Yin, represent the parts of yin that can be deduced using caution;
All cast against a greyish background of what can only be presumed.

The Yin dot inside Yang is made up of what is not known, but it is able to be defined by it being circled with bright Yang; while the Yang dot inside Yin is only seen by a very little glimmer of what is known.

Now herein lays the deeper YinYang – portraying HOW we safely navigate into the unknown:
By Yin providing us with one half of both what is known and what is not known;
And Yang providing us with the opposite half of what is known and what isn’t known;
All being double-contrasted by what we are able to safely presume; and what we already know;
Gives us eight opposite points of certainty, that the complete YinYang is actually there.

________________________________________At the time, this was one of more difficult pieces of metaphorical art I attempted;
Starting with a blank canvas, facing the reality of how to ‘simply’ portray the invisible subject of “HOW” we humans discover the unknown… I had to think a lot about what I was going to use and how I was going to compose this picture.

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Peace and War Threaten Each Other

1,500 x 2,665mm

Constant global hopes and fears

Peace avoids war and War destroys peace;
War rejects peace and Peace detests war.

If peace finds a way to thrust itself into the belly of war, then war shall be destroyed;
If war finds a way to break the back of peace, then peace shall be destroyed.
Such is mankind’s dilemma;
Such are the personal conflicts found in everyday life.

And then there are those who use peace as a very sophisticated weapon of war.And around we go…

The anatomy of the art
The image has no painted border – meaning the struggle is without end;

Blue is Peace and Red is War.

Red is on the right-hand side, the side of power;
But its centre of gravity is much higher, putting it at risk.

Blue is on the left side, meaning it goes forward to strike war;
And its centre of gravity is very low, which gives it great strength;
Enabling it to easily strike the underbelly of Red.

The white background depicts the (debatable) pure intent behind both war and peace.
And, if you look very closely, both Red and Blue constantly seep into the surrounding white..

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Life and Wealth

1,500 x 1,500mm

The art of getting one without destroying another

This is an educational piece, designed to provoke questions and answers in the mind of the viewer about balancing life and wealth.
• HOW do we gain wealth, without destroying our life?
• HOW do we enjoy life, without destroying our wealth?
Given that, the pursuit of wealth constantly uses up one’s life;
And to live life constantly consumes one’s wealth.

Provoking a GREAT question. How do we live life to the fullest?

Which causes this painting to evolve into portraying two GREAT things:
• The use of wisdom;
• And the fulfilling of dreams;
Revealing the common desire to live a long and fulfilled life.

And, just as the principles contained in this painting apply to an individual’s life, so too they can be found in a company (or corporation); Wherein a company’s life, is its workers – without whom there would be no products made or profits gained; And its gold, which is its product’s profits – without which there would be no wages or owner’s desire returned to sustain the life of the company.
Revealing the company’s workers need to build up the company that pays their wages;
And the company’s need to reward its workers that create its gains;
Further revealing the balance of life and wealth.

The anatomy of the art:
The red is life;
The gold is wealth.

The story is told facing the right-hand side, with one’s back to the left.
The white on the left side represents the wisdom that is behind everything one does;
While the blue on the right represents the care that you progress with.

The orangey shadow, in behind the top half of YinYang, is youthful vigour, which is employed whenever we follow our desire to live life to the fullest.

The constant fragmenting bottom of the circle, depicts how the cost of just existing, of being a part of this world, ever invades into gold – constantly eating up wealth.

Then there are the corners. Starting on the right-hand side:
In the top right corner, the hint of purple represents how we see ourselves “living the dream” – living like kings, clad in purple. However, the blacker part above this purple is the fear that “you” could at any time do something that would cause it all to fail and everything would be lost.
And in the bottom right corner, the black filling the whole corner represents the fear that “the world economy” might shift or fail; causing everything to be lost.

Hence, the blue (care) extending out to the right of gold is correctly positioned between all that is in the top and bottom right corners.

The other two grey coloured corners on the left-hand side represent what one’s wisdom can’t see into. Above the white, represents where one often cannot see into themselves; and below is where one more than often can’t see into the world economy.

The random darker grey areas below the YinYang are the times that we have made mistakes and often failed.

However, the blue above the YinYang of life and wealth is the bright blue of love and kindness, which above all is the only thing that warms our souls, and uplifts the hearts of those around us..

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Opposites coming together

1,200 x 1,200mm

Harmony beginning to appear

There is a great story told by the descendants of the Arn’s, the mighty Masters of WuChi Tao:
That if Yin and Yang were pulled apart, then the universe would start to catch fire;
And darkness would begin to appear.
However, when left to themselves, the powers within Yin and Yang will always cause them to come together; And then light will be able to be seen again.

Likewise, in life, if Yin and Yang were not constantly held apart by our meddlings;
They would naturally come together, and harmony would begin to appear;
And life would return to active peacefulness.

In the story: to have peacefulness without activity is death;
And to have activity without peacefulness is war.

This painting tells the story of Yin and Yang returning together;
And, as you can see, the chaos is starting to disappear across the top of the scene.

The anatomy of the art:
The translucent bright white across the top of the painting symbolizes wisdom and peace coming back into view because Yin and Yang are returning together again;

The many soft colours imbued throughout the smoky shades of grey through the middle section of the painting represent all the opportunities lost sight of, due to disharmony;

The dots inside Yin and Yang have vanished, symbolising that even though Yin and Yang are coming together, they are not yet fully in harmony with each other again.

And the red flecks floating around Yin and Yang are the embers of air that caught fire as a result of them being pulled apart – the larger flecks forming blackness next to them, represent the chaos.

The large brush strokes of reddish dark shadows across the bottom of the scene symbolizes the irreparable damage and irretrievable losses caused by Yin and Yang being held apart.

However, there are white lines of hope starting to form over these reddish dark areas, as Yin and Yang start to come within proximity of each other again..

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Chromatophoric Transformations

1,600 x 1,600mm

How we become who we are

Everyone has a background;
Everyone has a life that they have lived.

Everyone has a self;
Everyone is a person in and unto themselves.

Within one’s self are contrasts;
Within one’s self are harmonies.

There is all that we know;
There is all that we don’t understand;

All that we stand for;
All that we stand against.

There are things we are learning, developing;
There are things that we are losing sight of, disinterested.

Everyone has a future, looking forward with both concern and desire;
Everyone has a past, containing both failure and success.

Things we are moving towards;
Things we are moving away from.

Within are things that we are dearly holding onto;
Within are things that we are desperately wanting to forget;

That which makes us cry;
That which makes us laugh.

And everything in-between is that which we are not sure of;
Or, in some way, we are just content with.

This is a painting about how we are made up of all these things;
How all these are interrelated within us, to make up who we are.
It is all about: how we harmonise; how we blend in. Yet, how we stand out; how we are separate.
And it is the clashing and the blending of all the contrasts and the harmonies within our self, standing between our past and our future that actually makes into who we are.

All existing in some way within a person I call “you”.
And a certain way within a person you call “me”.

Yes, you and I too!

The anatomy of the art:
The background is read from left to right.

The smooth white is the past – so clearly seen, perfect in hindsight.
The rough and dark is the unknown parts of future, with little bits of white touching the high points, reveal the low points ahead - creating what is called insight;

The YinYang defines one’s self in the picture;
It representing the contrasts and the harmonies within one’s self.
Standing between one's past and one's future...

The white pressing into the future, represents all that we stand for; what we are moving towards; that which we are dearly holding onto; all that we know.

And in behind the white is the black, which is what we stand against; what moving away from; that which we are desperately wanting to forget.

And the greyish wash over much of the centre represents that which we are not sure of;
Or, in some way, we are just content with.

However, the blackest pieces seen through the grey represent that which we simply don’t understand. And the whitest pieces shining through represent that which makes us laugh.

And the white dot surrounded by black, is how we laugh at things we don’t understand about ourselves; And in perfect contrast, the black dot surrounded by white represents how we have no idea at all of what actually makes us laugh.

The painting as a whole presents the contrasts and the harmonies within one’s self, positioned between one’s past and one’s future. And that it is these things that make us cry; and make us laugh; and everything else black and white within YinYang…
Which in turn creates our own background; which in turn plays both a chromatophoric and anti- chromatophoric role in whom we will become.

________________________________________I often wonder if any of us have ever known who we are.
Sometimes I think what it would be like to spend a day with a person who does.
Maybe I would show them this painting;
And ask them to explain to me the rest of the story.
Then maybe we will cry and laugh together..